Early life and education Anne-Marie Johnson was born in Los Angeles, California. For high school, she attended
John Marshall High School, graduating in 1978. Johnson graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in Acting and Theater.
Career Johnson's first US television appearance was as a contestant on the game show
Card Sharks, which originally aired on June 5, 1979, and her name was listed as Anne Johnson. She appeared on the game show ''
Child's Play under her full name as well as a pilot episode for the game show Body Language as Anne Marie Johnson, where she described herself as a "struggling actress". Johnson began her career appearing in episodes of the Australian dramas Homicide and Matlock Police in the 1970s. In 1984, she played the role of Aileen Lewis on the short-lived NBC comedy series Double Trouble, and at the same time had a recurring role on the NBC police drama Hill Street Blues''. She played Raj's wife Nadine Hudson Thomas in the
syndicated sitcom ''
What's Happening Now!! from 1985 to 1988. In 1988, Johnson began starring as Althea Tibbs in the NBC/CBS police drama series In the Heat of the Night, playing the role through 1993. and in 2020 had a recurring role in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama Cherish the Day and ABC legal thriller How to Get Away with Murder''.
Other activities Johnson was elected first national vice president of the
Screen Actors Guild in 2008. She ran for president of the actors' union in 2009 on the Membership First ticket, but she lost to eventual winner
Ken Howard. ==Personal life==